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5 Things You Didn’t Know About Blake Lively

Despite omnipresent paparazzi, Blake Lively is known for keeping much of her private life, well, private. “My anonymity is something I treasure,” she said in 2010. “Wanting to be an actor and wanting to be famous are different.” Since then, the 28-year-old actress has married the man of her dreams, given birth to a beautiful 18-month-old daughter named James, and just this week, took a decidedly less-tight-lipped turn when she revealed that she and husband Ryan Reynolds plan to have a Brangelina-sized brood.

But her growing family isn’t the only thing worth celebrating; Lively’s new film, The Shallows, officially hit theaters this Friday. In honor of our favorite Gossip Girl, here, five little-known facts about Blake Lively.

1. Lively has called Martha Stewart her “idol,” and said that the mother of all good-things acted as fairy godmother during her wedding to Reynolds in 2012. As Lively told Vogue’s Jonathan Van Meter: “Our wedding was becoming a disaster, and we didn’t know what to do, so we called Martha! She said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.’ She sent her team down to save us,” Lively said. “And then she called her friends who have a home in South Carolina and set us up at the most amazing getaway. This is the day of our wedding!”

2. While she was raised in an acting family, Lively grew up with dreams of studying at Stanford University rather than making it big in Hollywood. Her mother gave her a jumpstart on her education and enrolled her in the first grade three years early. “My mom told them I was six since I was so tall,” she said. Lively slowly began following in her family’s footsteps, and auditioned for the role of Natalie Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire, which ultimately went to Mara Wilson. Her brother, Eric, actually persuaded Lively to audition for what would become her breakout role in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Fittingly, Lively’s brother convinced her to audition while on a trip abroad. “In the middle of my sophomore year, he decided that I needed to be more cultured and took me around Europe for two months, while I was taking world history,” Lively said in 2006. “He sat me down when we were in Europe and said, ‘What are you going to do with your life?’ I'm 15 at the time. And so he made like a chart of things I could possibly do, and nothing really interested me . . . so I just went on auditions to appease him.”

3. After starring in Sisterhood, Lively’s fans began campaigning for her to get the role of Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl. The story goes like this: Fans of Sisterhood posted on online message boards, which caught the attention of the show’s casting director, David Rapaport.“[At] that time, there were no Lena Dunhams or Zooey Deschanels—it was all about beauty and glamour, but being approachable and Blake was the ultimate It girl,” Rapport said in 2015. “I was terrified we wouldn’t get her or they wouldn’t like her because, honestly, that show lived and died on her.” But producers thought Lively was too “sunny California” to play the part of an Upper East Side debutante. For the second screen test, Lively straightened her hair and got the job. But the hair trials don’t end there! Casting Lively meant that Leighton Meester, a natural blonde, had to go brunette for her audition of Blair Waldorf. Lively was initially hesitant to sign onto a television series given the long-term commitment, but she swiftly reconsidered when casting directors told her about Serena’s enviable wardrobe. “I think the real carrot for Blake was the opportunity for clothing,” executive producer Josh Schwartz said. “She was like, ‘Wait, so you’re asking me to move to New York and wear the most incredible clothes, some of which you might actually let me keep?’”

4. Despite playing a party girl in films like The Town and Savages, Lively told Vogue that she has never had a drink in her life. But she has broken the law: She sneaks spices in from other countries by hiding them in teddy bears. “I'm always traveling, and I get so excited when I find a new spice or a new sauce,” Lively once said. “This is absolutely crazy, but I wanted a sauce from New Orleans, and they wouldn't send it because the FDA didn't approve it. I called the restaurant and I said, "Okay, can you buy a teddy bear and cut it open and put it in and send it?" They're like, ‘No, we are not the drug cartel; we’re not sending you your sweet-potato sauce in a teddy bear.’ ”

5. Lively plays Guitar Hero competitively and her gaming skill was even written into a season-one episode of Gossip Girl. Two years prior to meeting now-husband Reynolds on the set of Green Lantern, Lively revealed that she was looking for a romantic partner who shared her love for the video game: "If a guy can play Guitar Hero with me and sit at home and watch the Food Network and read magazines with me, that's good. I don't think there are many guys that’s fun for. It’s a lot to ask.” In 2014, a now-married Lively said she competes in her free time. “I go to tournaments in Brooklyn and put fake tattoos all over my body so I look like a rock star. No, ’cause I am a rockstar. I made it to the semifinals once, but they didn’t have style points.”